Curiosity
by Aquamarine07
Summary: Willabeth PostAWE. A response to latebloomer04's challenge, which was to write a fic about Elizabeth confessing to Will about the FIRST sparrabeth incident, the curiosity scene. Enjoy!


Disclaimer: I don't own POTC.

A/N: Despite the title, this is COMPLETELY Willabeth. This is my response to latebloomer04's challenge on HideTheRum: to write a fic about Elizabeth confessing to Will about the FIRST sparrabeth incident, the curiosity scene. Its not too angsty, but I actually might want to write the same scene again in a different time/place/setting to lay the angst on a little thicker. We shall see. In the meantime- this is Post-AWE about eleven odd years. Enjoy, and review if you like at the end :)

* * *

"Please enlighten me as to why you are risking your life for something that may or _may not_ exist," Elizabeth demanded, putting extra emphasis on the words 'may not.' Jack had come round for dinner once again (as seemed to be his habit whenever the_ Pearl_ was docked near the Turners residence). He had seized this opportunity to tell Will and Elizabeth about his magnificent plan for a new adventure. Elizabeth was not amused.

"One word, love," Jack responded, leaning towards her and staring at her intensely, as if it was a staring contest and the first to look away would admit their defeat. "Curiosity."

Both Jack and Elizabeth held the forceful gaze for a moment as the sentiment hung in the air, and then abruptly they both looked away. Elizabeth coughed uncomfortably and busied herself with clearing her place, while Jack looked anywhere but at Elizabeth.

Will, who had witnessed many confrontations and good-natured arguments between his fiery wife and his best mate, had never seen one end in this particular way before, and, understandably, he was quite perplexed. Usually disputes of this sort were fought it a very precise way, as if Jack and Elizabeth had exacted their squabbling into a science. Elizabeth, the fierce and passionate one, would throw death-glares at Jack and use her spitfire nature to win him over. Jack, the tale-spinning and insane one, would lean back casually (a gesture of calm that only infuriated Elizabeth more) and use his communication talent to either confuse her beyond response or come up with some crazy logic for his latest shenanigan.

Either way, Will had become accustomed to watching them go at it, especially as his wife usually came out on top. He was the passive of the group, and occasionally the moderator. On the rare occasion that Elizabeth hand would twitch towards her sword, Will knew that things were getting out of hand. And if it came to a swordfight, Will certainly didn't want to see Jack get hurt. Elizabeth in a temper would have crushed him undoubtedly (a fact that Will was quite proud of).

Will stared at his wife's retreating figure and Jack's eyes flitting around the room. "Did I miss something?" he asked innocently. Neither responded.

"Jack," Will said, directing the comment to him, "What just happened?"

"Er, nothing, mate," Jack replied, his voice a few octaves higher than usual. "I think I'll just be going now."

"Oh no you don't!" Will commanded forcefully as Jack started to stand up. "And you either!" he called to Elizabeth, who was trying her best to slip out the door unnoticed.

"Trust me, mate, this is a conversation you'll be wanting to have with her," Jack advised him in a low voice, "Seeing as it's her fault in the first place."

"How dare you blame what happened on me?" Elizabeth cried, turning around to face him, her face split between annoyance and disbelief that she was having the conversation _now_, and in front of her husband. "Jack Sparrow, the charmer who does his best to win over even the most respectable women…"

"I don't remember it being me who was rather, shall we say, _lonely_ because her fiancée had gone gallivanting off!" Jack interrupted her, edging away from Will, should he catch on to what they were talking about. Elizabeth was livid.

"You know that's not true!" she screeched back. Will tried his best to intervene.

"Elizabeth, put the plate down," he said, moving towards her slowly as if she were a volcano about to blow. At least he could save the china.

"Is too!" Jack yelled back.

"Is not!" Elizabeth shrieked.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is NOT!"

"STOP IT!" Will roared, loud enough to stun both of them momentarily. Will sighed, rubbing his forehead wearily. "Jack, get out. I'll see you tomorrow by the docks about that metal work you needed."

Jack raised his hands in surrender. "Fair enough, mate." He edged his way out of the room, giving Elizabeth a good three-foot radius the whole time. Will could have sworn he heard him whisper, "Is too!" as he passed Elizabeth, as she turned on her heel and intended to go after him before Will caught her. She pulled out of his arms and groaned loudly. "That _insufferable_ man, I don't know _what_ he is thinking sometimes," she muttered as she attempted to distract herself with cleaning the table.

Will set his hand on one of the chairs, eyes following Elizabeth's every move. "Are you planning on telling me what that was about?" he asked her suspiciously.

"I _wasn't_, but thanks to bloody Jack…" Elizabeth trailed off, grabbing another set of plates and bringing them over to where they could be washed. Will raised his eyebrows. There wasn't much he didn't know about Elizabeth, seeing as they generally confided in each other. It was sort of an unspoken rule of their marriage, seeing as they had both experienced what lack of communication could do. They had spent months not speaking over a misunderstanding, months that had almost ripped apart their relationship forever. It was torturous, and they both vowed it would never happen again.

Elizabeth dropped the plates into the basin and sighed. "Don't look at me like that, Will," Elizabeth pleaded from across the room, without turning around. _Maybe all mothers do have eyes in the back of their heads_, Will mused to himself before closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around Elizabeth in a bear hug from behind.

"But I thought you trusted me," Will replied in the most pathetic voice he could muster. Elizabeth leaned into his embrace, closing her eyes. "I do," she argued back, "It's just that…" she trailed off as Will began to nibble her ear affectionately. Did Will realize what kind of effect he had on her? She couldn't think straight. Elizabeth allowed herself to enjoy it for a moment, before swatting him away.

"Will, I'm trying to say something here," Elizabeth said, flustered and blushing as she turned to face him.

"I'm sorry," Will apologized, not looking sorry one bit. He actually looked rather pleased with himself.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows back at him until he sobered up. "Help with these and I'll tell you," she said, gesturing to the dishes that needed to be done.

"Yes, dear," Will said mockingly, earning himself another swat on the arm.

"You're almost as cheeky as William, sometimes, you know that?" Elizabeth murmured, handing him a dish to dry. Will would not be deterred from the current subject.

"So about this whole situation with Jack," Will began, getting her back on track. He was quite curious himself to find out what had caused the latest quarrel between the two, and the abrupt awkwardness of the situation. It was hard to throw Jack for a loop, and whatever had passed between the two of them obviously put him out of his comfort zone for once.

Elizabeth could see that there was no way she was getting out of an explanation now. "Will, before I begin, you have to understand that the only reason I told you this was because I really and truly didn't want to hurt your feelings, alright? It's completely in the past now, and I didn't think it was worth bringing up again, but I would never keep something from you that was important."

Will simply nodded, hoping she would get to the actual explanation soon. It couldn't be _that_ bad…

Elizabeth didn't know how to begin. "Well, it's about what happened between me and Jack, while you were stuck on the _Dutchman_ for the first time," Elizabeth said tentatively. Oh, this was just great. How was she going to explain this? She and Jack were going to look terrible no matter how she put it. She couldn't very well say, 'Will, we were just shamelessly flirting while you were getting whipped on my behalf by your own father!' Bloody stupid Jack.

"You know what Jack said earlier about curiosity?" Elizabeth tried again, positively squirming where she stood. "He tried to use that on me as a reason that I was, well, _attracted_ to him while we were on the _Pearl_ together. He said I wouldn't be able to resist acting on impulse and things like that, sort of like he was _flirting_ with me or something." Elizabeth looked at her hands, her face growing hot.

"And how did you respond to this?" Will asked in an emotionless voice, trying to weigh what she was saying calmly in his head. Elizabeth turned fuchsia.

"I sort of, well, I flirted back a bit," she responded in a small voice, shame-faced. "I said he was a good man, and that he couldn't have me because that would mean that he wasn't a good man… it was just pushing each other's buttons, trying to find a weak point. I thought myself to be somewhat _attracted_ to him, I suppose."

Will stared straight at the wall. "So that's what led to the whole death-by-kiss, then? The fact that you two were flirting on the _Pearl_?"

Elizabeth nodded, still staring firmly at the floor. "He um… he tried to kiss me then, or I tried to kiss him, I don't really know who it was, but it didn't happen. I thought that I was feeling something for him, before I knew how he had taken advantage of you, I thought there was some part of me that… wanted him too," she continued. Elizabeth figured that if she was so deep in a hole now, she might as well be honest about everything.

"I was wrong Will," Elizabeth forced herself to continue. "I was somewhat attracted to the way he treated me, the attention he gave to me, the way he treats every woman he wishes to ensnare with his words. But in reality, I could never, ever love him like I love you, Will, and the feelings died out the moment I realized what I had done to you. I'm not blameless in this, but neither is he. It was both of us… but it's over." Elizabeth released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She snuck a peak at Will, who was still staring firmly at the wall. "I'm so sorry, Will," she apologized. "I'm sorry I ever would have done such a thing to you. You don't deserve to be treated like that. And I'm sorry to have seemed secretive with this until now, I just didn't want to upset you, or make you think that there was reason to be suspicious of us two now."

Elizabeth finished her speech and stopped, giving Will time to process it all. She was ashamed of herself, rather, her young and foolish self, and ashamed of what she had done.

Will took a deep breath. While it was incredibly difficult to hear about his wife flirting with another man, he tried to be reasonable. This had happened over eleven years ago. True, they were betrothed at the time, but Will knew how Jack could be with women. And Elizabeth was obviously not hiding anything more: she had admitted to her side of the fault as well, which meant she wasn't holding back.

"Just… just flirting, then?" Will finally broke the silence.

"Yes. Just flirting, and the 'death-by-kiss,' which clearly had other motives," Elizabeth responded, currently hating herself. These were two topics she wished would stay in the past.

Will let out a low whistle. "That's all?" he exclaimed, looking rather relieved. "You had me thinking the worst there for a moment, Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth stared at him in disbelief. Would he really just forgive her like that?

"You're okay with this?" she asked him, as if she was questioning his sanity.

"Elizabeth," he said chidingly, beginning to dry the dishes again, "It's all in the past now."

Elizabeth nodded, dumbstruck and awed at the man she had married. His true-to-the-core goodness surprised her every day.

"Jack, though," Will continued with a grin, "I'm not so sure about."

"It was as much fault mine as his," Elizabeth reminded him, not wanting to lay blame on Jack completely, though he probably deserved it.

"I know," Will laughed, "But I can't stay mad at you. Him, on the other hand, well, I should challenge him to a swordfight on the grounds of protecting your honor, just pretending to be angry with him of course, so I can beat him again! He would hate that!"

Elizabeth shook her head with a slight chuckle. "No, I don't think he would appreciate that very much. But I could very well challenge him to a fight for opening this can of worms again."

Will frowned at her. "Elizabeth, you know there's nothing you could do that would make me stop loving you?"

Elizabeth sighed for the millionth time that night. "I know," she responded, "But sometimes it's just hard to believe I married someone so… seemingly perfect."

Will smirked. "I feel the same about you, as well," he said, before kissing her cheek lightly. Elizabeth smiled. This had certainly gone much better than she expected.

And sure enough, the next day Jack returned for dinner, and neither Will nor Elizabeth mentioned the conversation they had had the previous night. Luckily for Jack, neither challenged him to a fight either. Will had, however, insisted that Elizabeth hide the rum as a secret punishment for the pirate. Curiosity indeed.


End file.
